Iron in Breastmilk

[wickedwitchofthenorth]

Just been told that my baby needs to be eating a variety of different foods now (he's 5.5mnths) because he will need more iron.

I am fairly sure this can't be right. Surely my milk will adapt to my babies needs? (even at the expense of my own?)

Have been holding off from weaning till now but will admit to the odd spoonful of porridge and veg (not together!)when he seems to be v hungry/grumpy.

His weight has dipped ever so slightly ,now just below 91st centile so hardly a cause for concern just yet

So shall i safely ignore this advice (from HV) or shall i start cracking open the baby jars and playing catch up.

makes me wonder why they advise excl bf one minute and then all of a sudden they should be on 3 meals a day

So, does anyone know how much, if any,iron bm contains?

Firstly - don't worry, trust your instinct. If your baby is happy and contented on bm you don't need to rush into everything - the advice you were given is a little suspect if you ask me. Your bm will contain all that is needed for your baby up until 6mths - as far as the iron content is concerned, your body will ensure that the bm gets all that it needs even if this is at your expense, so you shouldn't need to worry. You can always take some supplements suitable whilst bf if you want but as long as you eat well, it shouldn't be an issue and it will be you rather than your milk that will go without if it comes to it. Take it at your baby's pace, it seems that you are doing everything right at the moment and just trust your instincts!

I think it's more a case of the baby's iron stores from the placenta, rather than iron in breastmilk which is the issue. The stores start to deplete around 6 m, but are not gone all of a sudden.

I would start weaning when your baby is ready, don't worry about any need to catch up. Some time in the next few weeks some iron intake will start to be a sensible step, I think.

You should ignore that HV - she should know the official advice better, i.e. to wait until 6 months. My DS is exactly the same age - just a few weeks to go! I can't find it right now but Aitch's blog www.babyledweaning.com has some info on iron levels in breastmilk - something to do with how 'bioavailable' it is - this thread should help. Sorry I can't remember I have severe babybrain atm!

No hurry to wean. Forget jars for iron they are very low in iron. If you baby is only breastfed, there is no hurry to wean, in terms of nutrition they really don't NEED food until 12 months, I wish somebody had told me that my life would have been much easier. Iron is breastmilk is easily absorbable there is enough iron in the BM to help them grow until they are 12 months old. Do not worry. Formula has lots of iron but thats because babies can't absorb the artifical iron easily.

BM contains plenty of iron, and at 6 months they still have plenty of iron stores, so no need to supplement or introduce anything before then.

Theres a very good research paper here that shows that babies who are exclusively bf to 6 months aren't anaemic, and have good iron stores.

iron seems to be about the only thing babies of 6 months plus do need to get from solids, so just wean ds straight onto steak at 6 months and you should do ok